reprazentin 4 da ol skool

Monthly Archives: November 2012

I’m really stoked about this party. Not that I’m expecting it to be anything like the 90’s, but it’d be great to see these ol skool veterans mashing tings up. Last week I tuned into Jumpin Jack Frost’s V show on originuk.net and got a delightfully proper rinseout from the grandmaster himself. He also gave yours truly a shoutout on Twitter after I tweeted how he was seriously cracking me up with his on-air antics. For those of you who aren’t acquainted with JJF, the guy is a natural born comedian.This gregarious geezer has been a fixture on the drum and bass scene virtually from its inception, being affiliated with the likes of Brian Gee, Roni Size and Dillinja from back in the day. I had the pleasure of hearing him spin at Koko Camden for Grooverider’s “Just Got Out of Jail” party, and was absolutely floored with his killer set, not to mention the ill acoustics of the venue itself. With lyrical from MC Daddy Earl, this ought to be a showstopper. Also featured on the bill is jump up jungle favourite, DJ Hype, with support from local veterans Marcus Visionary, Sniper, Everfresh and Lush. Early bird tickets $15, $25 advance, more at the door.

Aight, check this out. Today I experienced a totally irrational hankering of nostalgia for some ol skool drum and bass. So I dug out CD 1 from my double disc set, “Essential Drum and Bass 2” (Beechwood Music, 1998). If you like atmospheric drum and bass with vocals, then you’re gonna dig this. With classic gems by 4 Hero, Photek, Roni Size & Krust, how the hell can you go wrong? Anyways, by the time I got to track number 10, I realized the song I was dying to hear was not on CD 1. Disc 2: nowhere to be found. Horrors. I got on the net and, with a bit of sleuthing, discovered what I was looking for. Nevermind the fact that the file is low res; I was just happy to hear the thing. Too bad the embed’s got the hate on for WordPress 😦

Nonetheless, the track is titled, “Phuture Phunk” by Science Orchestra. It starts off with a bombastic, killer bass intro with a punchy emphasis on the one, spruced up with cowbells and scraper. And that offbeat shaker at 00:45 – sheer brilliance. The Latin swing of this composition plays a huge part in its enduring appeal. Aesthetically pleasing in so many ways, the creative layering of horns, abstract vocal loops and simplistic beats put me in touch with my Latin American roots in the trippiest way imaginable. Major props to this underrated treasure of UK drum and bass. Worth a listen, especially if you can get your hands on the original. Crank that shit up, feel it bounce in your meat machine and you’ll know exactly what I mean 🙂

This endearing caricature was found on a door in the ladies washroom of my favourite bar in Kensington. I hope to God a woman drew it. Either Todd the artist snuck in and drew a quickie, or this is a revealing portrait of a skinhead perv in his cups. Someone thought it was Out of Order too, which made me laugh even harder. Hey, at least the toilet flushed! Todd McCalpin, wherever you are, fat, bald, horny…you are now officially famous! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or a woman tanked out on tequila armed with a Sharpie. Watch out John – you could be next.

BARK FOR HARD ON

No, we’re not talking about bark of the canine variety. This bark is of an entirely different sort altogether. Apparently this stuff is supposed to help men keep it up. Traditionally known as bois bandé in Caribbean culture, this hardy substance is a cult favourite, especially amongst men of African descent. Boil, drink, and you might find yourself barking with pleasure all night long. Drink too much and you might find yourself in ER with priapism, a very painful condition where the sap won’t leave the…trunk. Some guys think it’s worth the risk. This one certainly did. He was proud to show it off. I asked him whether it worked. He grinned slyly and said nothing. I guess there’s a secret society of middle aged men who belong to Brotherhood Bark who hold secret, full moon gatherings where they ingest this mysterious elixir, engage in orgiastic rituals and exchange notes afterwards. Thank God I’m not invited.

SCENT ALIBI

Personally, I don’t know which is more toxic; a waste dump or one of those ridiculous, chemically laden air fresheners. And this one doesn’t list any ingredients whatsoever…mmm dodgy. Air fresheners come in a mad variety of scents, but who the hell wants to layer vanilla ice cream over buttfunk? Seriously. Alibi has violated my childhood memories of this creamy dessert, all in the name of capitalism. I guess the ad execs up at Alibi thought it would be swell to give peeps a great excuse to pretend the toilet won’t stink after dropping a bomb. “Bowel movements got you down? Don’t be shy – use Alibi!” The next visitor will become horribly confused by the ghastly combination of sweet-stank molecules, but you won’t give a shit. And after getting one whiff of that ungodly odor, neither will they.

HUMOUROUS VEIN

Got this OBG off the cover of Mad Magazine, Special Number Seven, with Richard Nixon on the cover. It doesn’t get much better than this. And to think kids had access to this in 1972. Those were the days! Politically incorrect was a term that hadn’t even been invented yet. Mad magazine exploited that loophole to the hilt, with its irreverent brand of satire running the gamut from movies to politics to pop culture. Nothing was sacrosanct to the folks at Mad. So it wasn’t much of a stretch for them to put a picture of a dead junkie’s arm on the cover. What a laff! Kids would get the message (SMACK KILLS), their parents would laugh and think the whole thing droll. Try putting an image like that on a kiddie mag nowadays and see where that will get ya…

HUMAN PLANTER

Snapped this lovely sign on a rooftop community garden. What a great way to discourage slackers from dumping cigarette butts into planters. Couldn’t have said it better myself 😉

It’s been one year since I started this blog on 11/11/11. So if any of you’s got a thing for numerology well…you know I’m onto something 🙂 17, 050 hits later, Frankenräver’s still going strong. True, I could have more than twice the number of hits if I was a jet setting, social media whore, but I do have moral objections to having some corporate entity owning whatever content I happen to post on my page. Ironically, this hasn’t stopped my blog getting traffic from Facebook , which says a lot right there.

When I first started this blog, I had doubts as to whether anyone gave a rip about rave culture anymore. I’m happy to say that some of us still do. Although the scene has changed drastically from what it once was, it’s still reassuring to see the Movement is alive in some shape or form around the world. Contrary to popular belief, raving is not just about dance music and drugs – it is a form of resistance to the status quo. Although it hasn’t always been easy to find stuff to write about, it’s been a pleasure to witness how the blog has evolved over the course of one year. I promised myself I would quit once I get to the 121st article, but who knows what might happen from there? In the meantime, I intend to enjoy myself, dammit!

Thanks to all my readers, followers and fellow bloggers around the globe for your support and your vastly amusing search engine terms. It’s really refreshing to know that you’ve stumbled across my blog with entries like “sara dopstar porn.” Watching Sara in action (spinning techno as opposed to bumping uglies) I’m sure must have been an enlightening experience for that particular seeker. I sincerely hope that Frankenräver continues to be a source of viable information and entertainment for all you Ecstaticans.

PLUR,

Frankenräver

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Despite ongoing attempts by mainstream media to demonize MDMA as a dangerous drug, there is plenty of evidence demonstrating its effective use in psychotherapy. During the 70’s, MDMA was used in marriage counseling and on individual patients by a small circle of pioneering psychiatrists, most notably Ann Shulgin and Philip Wolfson. They were impressed by MDMA’s ability to help several patients achieve “breakthroughs” where conventional therapy failed. However, this innovative experimentation came to a halt when MDMA was banned by the U.S. government in 1986. According to Nicholas Saunders,“In December 1985, a group of psychotherapists in Switzerland obtained permission to use psychoactive drugs in their work including MDMA, LSD, Mescaline and psilocybin. They formed The Swiss Medical Society for Psycholitic Therrapy, and besides treating patients with these drugs, members take one of the drugs together at twice yearly meetings.”Say what?The doc doses too? But of course! The general consensus was that doctors administering psychotropic medicine had to be thoroughly acquainted with its effects, though they did not do this while treating patients simultaneously.

The following is an excerpt from an interview conducted by British author Nicholas Saunders with Swiss psychotherapist, Dr. Marianne Bloch, from his book, E for Ecstasy. In my opinion, it is one of the most balanced, truthful, fascinating books ever published about the benefits, effects and dangers of Ecstasy. It was considered so controversial that it has been banned in Australia since 1995. Saunders was a social activist and entrepreneur, having started the successful enterprise of Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden. He also self-published and distributed “Alternative London,” an encyclopaedic guide for young people living in London with tips on squatting, communal living, creative budgeting and alternative thinking. After his tragic demise in a car crash in 1998, Saunders legacy lives on in his work, providing factual information so that people are empowered to make informed decisions in their quest for self-knowledge.

No. Although I have permission to use LSD, and use it for myself, I have decided only to use MDMA with patients. LSD lasts too long, both for the patient and myself. In my own experience, I like LSD much better in a one-to-one setting. I don’t like LSD in a group, and therefore I don’t want my patients to use it in a group either.

What is the problem with using LSD in a group?

I become too sensitive. There were too many stimuli for me – I guess it depends on one’s personality. The more I was able to allow things to come through, the more difficult it was for me to handle them. In a one-to-one setting it was OK, but I don’t want to do it with patients.

Do you do individual work with MDMA or just group work?

I do both. Mostly I use MDMA in a group, but when there is a patient who needs complete attention I use it individually.

What are the particular advantages of using MDMA? For instance, is there a particular character type or problem that it is suitable for? Is it perhaps only suitable when clients reach a block?

I use it with patients who are in an intense psychotherapeutic relationship with me. I usually start after six months or a year of ongoing therapy. Most of my patients come every week for individual therapy, and monthly to my Grof holotropic breathing weekends.* Among them are a few who I select who I select for MDMA therapy as well. These are mostly patients who have difficulties with their feelings…so they are mostly character-armoured people.

Aren’t all patients character-armoured people?

Yes, but there are some who have much weaker armour. For instance, oral people.* Their armouring is not as hard to get through.

So you use MDMA with the people with the hardest character armour.

Yes, I prefer to work with MDMA with people who have very hard character

Nicholas Saunders Photo: Anja Saunders

armour. These are, for instance, women with bulimia and some compulsive characters and depressive patients.

What about other groups such as people who have suppressed a memory of a trauma?

Yes, that is another group. For instance I had a woman patient whose problem was Bulimia, but then it came out that she was abused by her father, although she had no recollection of it beforehand. With MDMA she said, “Oh, there is some incest problem,” and I was very surprised as she had not mentioned it before, and now with the MDMA it comes out clearer and clearer. This person is completely out of her body, how shall we say it, yes completely detached from her body feeling and her emotional feelings.

Does the MDMA help her to become more integrated?

Yes, it helps a lot. It’s the method that helps her most to integrate and to get into her body. She is much less armoured in normal life than she was before, but she is still armoured and this blocks her from feeling her body. Very often she says, “I can’t feel my legs,” but on MDMA she says, “I feel good, I can feel my body.” It seems to have something to do with energy flow.

If you had not used MDMA with this client, presumably she would have made some progress just with the body work, massage, touch and expressing emotions?

Yes, but I am not sure that I would have come to that deep knowledge about her background, the incest problems with her father. It was so deeply covered, she had no idea it existed.

Did it take a long time to come out? Was it in the first MDMA session?

It was in the second. She had MDMA sessions alone because she was so frightened, and later she had sessions in the group.

How often do you run an MDMA group?

Twice a year.

That is very infrequent. Is that a policy or is that because it takes so much time?

I decided that because of the toxicity patients should not take it more than four times a year.

Now that new research shows that MDMA is not so toxic, do you think you might give it more often?

No, for me it is enough. Actually I don’t want to use more drugs than I have to. I also get results with breath work and body work. With some patients, these methods work well. It is the hard core ones who sometimes need a push.

Before the [legal] restrictions were put on, how many people were there in your MDMA groups?

Twelve. I didn’t want to take more. And I always work with my colleague, another woman therapist.

What doses do you give people?

125 mg.

You don’t vary doses according to body weight?

Earlier, yes, there were some small patients and they got 100 mg.

Do you find MDMA is much stronger for some clients than others?

I don’t find so much difference, no. Some take a longer time to get into it.

Do you give it in one does?

Yes.

Do you take it yourself, or does your assistant?

No.

Do you take it in a ritual way?

We just pass it around and take it. And then we eat some chocolate.

Oh! Chocolate?

Yes, it speeds up the effect of the drug.

Really? How is that?

Albert Hoffman [the discoverer of LSD} told me about it with reference to LSD, and he said that there are some receptors that it speeds up, and now we do it with MDMA and it seems to me that it works. They always have to take their orange juice, their pills and the chocolate. I think it has something to do with endorphins.

How long does it take to come on?

About half an hour. After they have taken the pills they lie down and my co-therapist continues to play the monochord.

Do you have any rules or agreements about how clients interact with one another or with yourself? How do you run a group?

Mostly I say that the patients are by themselves. They lie on the mattresses in their space; it’s something that has to do with internal work and they have to stay by themselves. But lately I have started to say, “Why don’t you mix a bit.” Maybe they were looking around and would say, “This person seems to be very sad,” and I would say, “OK, if you feel like going over to this person who you think is sad you can do so.” I mean, I encourage them to communicate with each other. But this is new, in the beginning I wanted to keep each of them separate, just going into their own space.

How do you deal with the situation where the person might be feeling sad but actually not want someone to approach? Do they have to ask before moving?

Yes. A patient who feels they want to go over to another has to ask: “I would like to get closer to you, how is it for you? Do you want me or not?”, and the other person has to decide. I tell them that they all have to be very honest. They have to feel for themselves what they want.

So after people have started opening up, what do you do next?

Then I play music on tapes. Mostly meditative music but also some with bass, rhythmic bass – it stimulates some feelings and activity. It’s completely different to the music I use in holotropic treatment, because there the music is actually the ‘drug’ that stimulates the activity. With MDMA, the stimulus comes from the chemical substance, so the music has a different intent in each setting.

Do you use different kinds of music to stimulate people in different ways? To bring up aggression, for instance?

Yes, and sometimes also anxiety.

What kind of music stimulates anxiety?

It’s some kind of dramatic music.

Film music from a thriller?

That’s right. But people require different stimuli. I mean, it’s not only music which stimulates feelings, but also contact. Sometimes it’s very important that closeness between a patient and myself brings up a feeling of anxiety, because they are afraid of closeness.

Even on MDMA?

Even more so. I remember an obsessive-compulsive character who was never in touch with her feelings of closeness, and the last time with MDMA she really got in touch by being close, having close body contact and also eye contact. The first time she felt her panic by being close.

Can you give me a few more examples of when MDMA has been particularly useful?

One patient was an extreme stutterer who had been in therapy for a long time. With MDMA, she could really talk about her history for the first time – because before she was only able to write things on a slip of paper. With MDMA she spoke about her father, how she was held back and not accepted as a child, and all of her emotional feelings came u p in regard to this theme.

So on MDMA she was able to talk freely?

Yes, it was incredible. It was also incredible how her body opened up. She started to breather dramatically, and then sounds came out, and she could talk without difficulty. But it was also significant that after the MDMA session her stuttering came back. It was not as bad, but she continued to stutter.

So MDMA didn’t cure the stutter, but enabled her to talk about her pain concerning her father.

Exactly, and this opened up a different area that could be worked with in ongoing psychotherapy afterwards. Material came up that was not known about before. And so this opened up certain feelings.

I’ve heard it said that you can’t feel love until you have learned to love yourself. Do you believe that?

I think so, yes. I believe in it. That only when you are really in contact with yourself, are you open enough to let love flow out.

Do you think that people are suggestible on MDMA?

Not at all. I think they see things as they are more clearly. For instance, the Bulimic client I mentioned had thought she had invented being abused by her father, but on MDMA she saw it was true. She saw it very clearly.

Are there other problems with using MDMA? Perhaps patients get too close to you?

The transference problem is the same as with body therapy, but the situation of transference becomes more clear to a patient on the drug. They can see their projections more easily. When they come up to me during the MDMA session and say, “I love you so much!”, I respond by saying, “See whether this love is something to do with you. Could it not be your newly discovered love for yourself?”

*Stanislav Grof has developed a method using hyper-ventilation and music to create an altered state of consciousness similar to that experienced under LSD.

*Oral people are those whose early needs have not been met adequately. They tend to have a feeling of emptiness which they try to fill by the attention of other people.